Ecdysone signaling underlies the pea aphid transgenerational wing polyphenism
Open accessAbstract
The wing polyphenism of pea aphids is a compelling laboratory model with which to study the molecular mechanisms underlying phenotypic plasticity. In this polyphenism, environmental stressors such as high aphid density cause asexual, viviparous adult female aphids to alter the developmental fate of their embryos from wingless to winged morphs. This polyphenism is transgenerational, in that the pea aphid mother experiences the environmental signals, but it is her offspring that are affected. Previous research suggested that the steroid hormone ecdysone may play a role in this polyphenism. Here, we analyzed ecdysone-related gene expression patterns and found that they were consistent with a down-regulation of the ecdysone pathway being involved in the production of winged offspring. We therefore predicted that reduced ecdysone signaling would result in more winged offspring. Experimental injections of ecdysone or its analog resulted in a decreased production of winged offspring. Conversely, interfering with ecdysone signaling using an ecdysone receptor antagonist or knocking down the ecdysone receptor gene with RNAi resulted in an increased production of winged offspring. Our results are therefore consistent with the idea that ecdysone plays a causative role in the regulation of the proportion of winged offspring produced in response to crowding in this polyphenism. Our results also show that an environmentally regulated maternal hormone can mediate phenotype production in the next generation, as well as provide significant insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying the functioning of transgenerational phenotypic plasticity.
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PEs increase growth and formation of muscle tissue, development of wings, and size of gonads.
“PEs also increase the growth and formation of muscle tissue, development of wings, and size of gonads [166].”
From Phytoecdysteroids: Distribution, Structural Diversity, Biosynthesis, Activity, and Crosstalk with Phytohormones (2022) · cites this paper as [166]
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- Authors
- Vellichirammal, N. N., Gupta, P., Hall, T. A., & Brisson, J. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Nebraska–Lincoln (US)
- University of Rochester (US)
- University of the West Indies (JM)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2017-01-23
- Volume
- 114
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1419-1423
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC5307454
- OpenAlex
- W2580863186
- Cited by
- 154
- References
- 59
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 5
- FWCI
- 11.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- HHS | NIH | National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01GM116867)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Hemiptera Insect Studies
- Keywords
- Acyrthosiphon pisum, wing polyphenism, ecdysone signaling, ecdysone receptor, crowding, aphid density, steroid hormones, RNA interference
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Aphids, Crowding, Ecdysone, Ecdysterone, Female, Morphogenesis, Phenotype, Receptors, Steroid, Triterpenes, Wings, Animal, Signal Transduction, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Pisum sativum, Insect Proteins, RNA Interference
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